HESITANT ON HAT-TRICK

Hat-trick in any field is  rated as an achievement of the concerned individual and he celebrates it with a lot of gusto. The same mood of partying is not visible on the face of Nawaz Sharif on his third electoral victory. This may be so also because the electorate did not give him a clear verdict. In a house of 274 members, he needed 137, the magic number for the majority. He could, however, win only 124 seats, short of the majority by 13 seats. Sharif was aware of the available hunting ground of the independents, who had succeeded in a good number. Accordingly, his party has managed the support of 18 independents, paving the way for the formation of the government with himself as the Prime Minister. Despite the completion of this pre-requisite, he does not appear in any hurry to occupy the premiership chair, mainly because of the multiple national and international problems.

The first problem, in the backdrop of his track record is that his approach to such issues is almost predictable to his countrymen. He inherited a huge fortune from his top business magnate father and has been running the same quite capably. Of course, he will not embark on any major policy which may militate against the business class. Secondly, we have seen that understanding the pro-Islamic  general trend of  the average Pakistanis, he will be obliging to them. Despite pressure from the USA and England to espouse democratic norms, he will prefer to be soft to the rabid Islamists. This was visible in course of his previous stints as well. He is aware that such a policy will antagonize these two major donor countries. The next point which makes him hesitant is his relation with the army, a major factor in the Pak polity. He must not have forgotten how Parwez Musharraf had stabbed him in back. This time he will go for an obliging army head. For this scheme of things to succeed, Sharif will have to wait for some months as the present Genl Kayani is retiring in next November. The last but not the least is his relations with the terrorists. He is known for indirectly patronizing these elements. Its continuance is once again bound to incur wrath of the West.

Despite the Vajpayee-Sharif Lahore talks, India knows that internally he does not nourish any good wishes for this neighbor. He may have declared to improve the Indo-Pak relations, but we know that he does not mean it. Will he stop infiltrating terrorists into India? Will he dismantle terror camps in POK? Will he deny China the use of  disputed Pok areas, intended to harass India? Will he give India the status of the most favoured nation in the matters of trade? Will he cooperate with the USA and India in restoring peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO forces from there?

It is believed that these baffling questions are testing his morale. So he is marking time to finalise his solid line of action. India wishes him good luck.